The Cal State Fullerton Police Department is searching for a new police chief, and is hosting talks and panels from candidates looking to acquire the job over the next two weeks.

The first candidate, CSUF University Police Capt. John Brockie, gave a presentation on Monday explaining his determination to create a diverse, student-friendly police department.

“When I started here, we were not a diverse police department,” Brockie said. “I was selected to create a police officer recruiting team in the year 2000, in order to recruit qualified applicants to reflect our campus community.”

After starting the recruitment team, Brockie said the department became more diverse. By continuing the team, he said the department will see further changes in accordance with the third goal of the university’s five-year plan: Having a diverse faculty and staff.

“Our current team is much more proficient and much more diverse, but we’re still recruiting,” Brockie said.

One way the department is diverse is through its male-to-female officer ratio, Brockie said. After a female officer was recently hired, he said 20 percent of the University Police force is female.

However, those recruits have not been promoted, which is an issue Brockie said the department intends to address.

“I would start by looking at our promotional process and see if there is anything that we can change to level the playing field,” Brockie said.

Alongside diversity, having a safe and comfortable police department is important to the campus community, Brockie said. He believes that students should feel able to go to the department without any apprehension.

“The chief has to be accessible. The chief has to be approachable,” he said.

Brockie also said he wants to increase University Police’s social media presence, which he believes is important in this day and age.

“I think we need to get more involved in social media. Many of the students, that is how they receive their information, that is how they check on their classes,” Brockie said. “We have a very small footprint on social media that we just started … And we can improve.”

If he becomes the chief of police, Brockie said he will encourage the campus community to get involved, especially through Associated Students, Inc.

“We need to explore more partnerships with ASI. They are the voice of our students,” Brockie said.

Los Angeles County Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers will give the next chief of police candidate presentation on Wednesday Nov. 29. The third presentation for San Diego Community College Chief of Police Raymund Aguirre will take place on Monday Dec. 4.

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